


Those Who Affect the Path of History (Can't Wait to Be Forgotten)

by clipper782



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Battle of Mustafar, Gen, Kidnapping, Redemption, Rehabilitation, Some angst, but its the best one Obi-Wan's got, feral anakin, held captive until he's not evil anymore that's the plan, it might not be a good plan, kind of, mostly fun, probably gonna be some minor obimaul too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clipper782/pseuds/clipper782
Summary: Obi-Wan can't bring himself to kill Anakin on Mustafar, but he decides he can't very well just leave him there either.Everyone's rooting for him! Even if they can't be together right now.Also Maul and Ahsoka get stuck with Palpatine watching duty...
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Darth Maul, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 13
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

_...he would not murder a helpless man. He would leave it to the will of the force..._

The will of the force was it? Something stopped him as he moved to turn away. Was it the will of the force then, for all the Jedi to die the way they did, betrayed by their comrades who had no choice in the matter? Was it the will of the force that the younglings at the temple be cut down far too young? Was it the will of the force... For Anakin to...

He cast his glance back to the man who had been his padawan, his comrade, his brother. Even burning and limbless he fought hard against his fate. His face was so full of rage and pain, it hurt to look at. It hurt to look at Anakin's sith-yellow eyes. He'd never imagined it, his friend looking like this, turning to the dark side, bowing to a Sith Lord (and the now Emperor was a Sith Lord too, and that was a complication he certainly didn't need) not even in his darkest of nightmares.

“Anakin.” Anakin's attention was on him, as it had been the whole time. What else was he going to focus on? For a moment Obi-Wan couldn't move to do anything. He didn't know what else there was to say. _You were my brother. I loved you._. And Anakin seemed to be far past talking. The younger man was weak now, Obi-Wan could put a swift end to it, he knew.

Master Yoda had said Anakin was gone, consumed by 'Vader'. Was that all he saw now? A Sith Lord wearing his old friend's face? Master Yoda had also said he would be strong enough to do what must be done, but with every passing moment it became more and more clear that he wasn't. Looking into Anakin's eyes was difficult, yes, but only because they were still Anakin's eyes. Anakin, who only days before was fighting, laughing beside him, making the most of things as he usually did... Who had sent Ahsoka on her last mission with such pride in his eyes. But also, somehow, _somehow_ the same man who had cut down a room full of younglings, killed the entire CIS leadership team after their full surrender, and only minutes before choked his own very pregnant wife until she passed out.

It would be so easy to believe that wasn't Anakin. He wanted so badly to believe it was really someone, something, else. Master Yoda had wanted to let him believe it too. Because it was easy, because it would make what he had to do easier, but... What was easy wasn't always what was right. In fact it seemed what was easy was very, very rarely what was right.

The flames were threatening to engulf Anakin, Vader, whoever he was, and Anakin's gaze was slipping. He'd stopped screaming somewhere along the line, but he still drew shuddering raspy breaths, in and out, as he struggled to hold onto consciousness.

If he wanted to act, he'd have to do it fast. He'd have to make a decision, and he had to make it now.

Sometimes, there are moments in history, when everything could change on the dime of a single individual, choosing a path that will go on to affect the entire galaxy. Most of the time, these decisions aren't known beforehand as things that would shape the galaxy in one way or another, but in this particular instance it was safe to say Obi-Wan had a pretty good idea of the importance this moment would have.

Anakin was supposed to be the chosen one, but in some ways, it was really those individuals like Obi-Wan Kenobi who could truly direct the fate of the galaxy.

He made his decision.

*

“He's alive.” He told Padme, when she was well enough to ask. He'd kept him in seclusion, and he'd kept him under anaesthesia. Not just for the pain and the massive amount of re-connective and reconstructive work the medical droids had to do for him. Strange as it might have seemed to him only days before, he couldn't trust Anakin.

“What's going to happen to him?” Padme sounded weak, sad, and how could he blame her. She loved Anakin as much as he did. It pained her just as much as it pained him to see him the way he had been on Mustafar.

He couldn't bring himself to lie. “I don't know.” As one of the last remaining Jedi he would have to go into hiding, and in a galaxy run by a dark lord of the Sith... He hadn't been this uncertain about the future since... Actually, he couldn't remember ever being so uncertain about anything.

“I can't believe... Chancellor Palpatine...”

“Emperor Palpatine,” he reminded her, with something like bitterness in his voice he found he didn't quite have the strength of mind to excise. 

“I'll kill him.” She said, fire finally seeming to return to her eyes. “And don't tell me anything about revenge, Obi-Wan. I know it's not the Jedi way, but he's going to hurt Anakin again and he's going to do terrible things... He's already done terrible things.”

“Don't misunderstand me, Senator, I don't disagree with your reasoning, but Master Yoda himself was forced to retreat from battle against the Emperor. I'm not sure you or I would have much luck, even together.” He gestured towards Padme's quite pregnant belly. “Besides, I'm quite sure fights to the death aren't good for the baby.”

“Neither is growing up under an Imperial dictatorship.”

He didn't know what to say to that. Generally he didn't disagree with Senator Amidala much when it came to politics. She was a staunch supporter of democracy and reform and process, so much so that she'd dedicated her life from a young age to government service. The one who would point out the flaws inherent in the system, that was always Anakin. He never thought he'd go that far with it though. His new Empire indeed. A Sith Empire. What a terrible thought, and if it was such a terrible thought, it was going to make an even worse reality.

“I'll try to talk to Anakin, when he wakes up.” He said to Padme. Of course he meant it, but he doubted it would do much good. It hadn't before. 

Neither of them mentioned they didn't know when they would be able to wake Anakin up. Or how safe it would be to do so.

*

“Incoming transmission, Commander! Says it's from Senator Amidala's ship. Should I assume it's safe to be let through?”

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at their holotransceiver. They'd managed to rout any calls going to the main ship (which was in no condition to be taking calls) to their smaller escape craft. Under better circumstances it would have been done before the ship blew up, but unfortunately they had been in no condition at the time to do it. Nevertheless, the thing had been put set up rather haphazardly without a proper mechanic, and Ahsoka had been beginning to think it wouldn't work after all. Not that they had wanted to make any calls. She was supposed to be dead, after all, it wouldn't due to alert the... Empire?

Perhaps it was the confusion or the desperation, or just the 'why would anyone use Padme's ship as bait' question, but she told Rex to allow the communication.

She could have cried when she saw Obi-Wan take form on the receiver. “You're alive.”

“As are you.” As always he tried to remain composed, unemotional, but Ahsoka could see through him, even on the holo. Something was wrong. Well, she figured, what wasn't wrong? The vast majority of the Jedi Order had been wiped out in an instant. They might not have been on her Life Day card list, but that didn't mean she wanted them to die. And then there was what Maul said... She wanted so badly for him to be wrong, or for him to be lying to some unseen end. But somewhere inside... She knew. She didn't want it confirmed but she had to ask.

“And Anakin?”

The look on his face said it all. Even if Anakin were just dead, it wouldn't be like that.

“He's... alive.”

“He turned to the dark side, didn't he, Master?”

Obi-Wan seemed shocked that she knew. “How? ...Yes, I... We can talk later.” It took him a moment to regain his composure, but like always, he did. It was somewhat of a disappointment, even now, but not a surprise. This was Obi-Wan after all. And it wasn't like she had to see it in his face to feel the pain he was going through. She was feeling it too. “Is it safe for me to send you our co-ordinates for a rendezvous?”

Ahsoka cast a sidelong glance at Rex who, for all his military posturing, only gave a bit of a shrug. “It... Might be a risk?”

“Do you... Oh!” Something seemed to occur to him. “What did happen with Maul? And the clones, did they?”

“They're dead. The clones. All of them except for Rex I... I couldn't save them.” It had happened so suddenly and even now it was barely over. “Maul is... gone. I don't know where he is now.”

Obi-Wan frowned, in that way that you knew if he were most anyone but Obi-Wan Kenobi he'd likely be letting out a string of expletives instead. “Do you have the force suppression tools you used on him still?”

Again she turned to Rex. Obviously the Mandalorian force casket had gone down with the ship but...

“I think we might have some supplies for that general purpose... In the, ah... Other shuttle.” Rex replied. Oh yes, the shuttle they had been meant to take. The one Maul had taken off to Force knows where with. In that shuttle.

“We'll uh... Get back to you on that one?”

“It's imperative if you have these tools that you bring them to the rendezvous point.” Ahsoka could imagine what he needed them for, but he didn't elaborate and she didn't ask. “But its more imperative that you not put _yourself_ in harms way for it.”

Ahsoka sighed. Typical Obi-Wan. “Just send me the rendezvous co-ordinates. I'll have your force suppressors.”

It was time to make another call.

*

Kenobi was already long gone by the time he arrived at Utapau. Presumed dead, most likely. There were a lot of clones, and if they'd caught Kenobi off guard like they had the rest of the Jedi when he was vulnerable... 

This was why he never bothered to give his full trust to his own so-called allies. As a Sith, he was raised to be smarter than that. 

It was when he was about to start rummaging around the shuttle for a weapon to cut down the traitorous clones who had taken the thrill of killing _his_ nemesis, that he received a transmission. Odd. Who would know he was even here? Unless they were trying to get in touch with Tano. But the call was coming from the ship he had just left, the ship that should be nothing more than debris on an ice moon half a galaxy away by now. But he felt a spike of excitement at the idea. Part of him had hoped Tano would survive, even though she had been... Terribly inhospitable to him during his stay in her custody. She wasn't like the other Jedi. She might even make a fine Sith. After all, wasn't it her Master that was Sidious's new apprentice?

He answered the call. It was Tano. “Lady Tano. I'm glad to see you survived.”

“You blew up my ship Maul.”

“Yes, and wasn't that what you wanted?”

“Do you know how many men are dead because of what you did?”

That was... irksome, that she would bring that up, that she would even imply that he could possibly care. “Men? They were soldiers. Soldiers die. I gave them a proper death, don't you think.” Tano looked like she was getting angrier with every word. Good. Very good for a potential Sith. But he didn't want to drive her away any further, so he added “They were trying to kill us, if you remember. It was us or them, and I think you know I'm far from a good enough person that I would choose them.”

The young not-quite-Jedi seemed to take a deep breath, closing her eyes, calming herself. Perhaps more of a Jedi after all. But she was still young. She still had time to change. Even Count Dooku had turned to the dark side after some seventy years of being a Jedi. And now he was dead. Good. He'd never liked Dooku.

Perhaps he'd lost his train of thought a bit there.

“Maul, I'm... Sorry, about before.” The apology seemed to pain her. He hoped it tasted bitter to her. It was mostly just an intriguing novelty to him. Yelling at him for killing her crew and now apologizing? Had he ever been apologized to before? Other than... No, not that. “You were right. About Anakin.”

Anakin? Oh yes, Skywalker. Kenobi's padawan, Tano's master, and Sidious's new apprentice. He remembered. Anakin Skywalker, he'd have to remember that name, if only just to curse it every night in vain. “Of course I was right. Tell me something I don't know.”

“I think...” Tano's eyes seemed to shift off screen for a moment. She seemed to be acting too diminutive, too unassuming, too submissive. He knew her, had known her in battle, the most intimate way one person could know another. She may have been small physically, but her presence was not. Was she trying to play him? To manipulate him? And was that pride he felt at her attempts? “You were right about us too. That we should work together to survive.”

“You seem to be doing fine on the surviving front yourself, Lady Tano.” Even if it was just her and her pet clone, they likely weren't stranded if she was calling from a ship. “What do you need me for?”

“Its more your ship we need.” Were they stranded then? Tano sighed as she seemed to make a decision, a new spark of honesty shining in her eyes. Wrong decision. Disappointing. “The force suppressors that I had from Coruscant to subdue you are on board your shuttle. I need them.”

“For what?” Though he already had an inkling of her plan, it seemed a juvenile and ultimately pointless one. If she was able to get into a position to put force suppressors on a Sith Lord, she would do better just to kill him, no matter what her feelings were on the matter. Didn't the Jedi forbid attachments anyway? 

“For Anakin. Maul. Think about it.” He didn't like being told what to think about. “What better revenge on your old Master than by taking his new apprentice from him,” He was about to say something about doing that just fine by putting an end to Skywalker's life, but she continued, “isn't it better than just killing him? Let Sidious know that his apprentice chose of his own free will to turn his back on him and his teachings? Wouldn't that be a more... Humiliating defeat?” The girl was grasping at straws to make her point, but the straws were quite tempting. It would feel good to knock Sidious down a peg or two. Would it feel better than killing his new apprentice, preferably somewhere where he could see? ...Maybe. Certainly Sidious wouldn't be able to mock Maul for being hot-headed and jealous if he were to simply... Help the Jedi to bring her friend back to her side. On the other hand that plan involved helping Jedi, which was not at all tempting in the slightest.

“Do you really think you would be able to break Sidious's hold on Skywalker? Do you really think you have that power? That your relationship is that strong?” Strong enough to withstand and overcome the machinations and manipulations of the older Sith? It was unlikely. After all, even Skywalker had known Sidious for far longer than he'd ever had a Padawan.

But then Tano let the other shoe drop. “It won't be just me.” And she couldn't mean what he thought she meant with that strange look in her eye. But he didn't dare to ask. “I'm sending you the co-ordinates to the rendezvous with Senator Amidala's ship. We'll be there shortly.” Ah. Senator Amidala? She was close to Skywalker. If the tabloids (which he certainly never read, thank you very much) were to be believed, she was even soon to be having his child. What a situation she must find herself in. It wasn't much to go on, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time until he made contact with his crime lords, and they would do just fine in the new Empire.

He entered the co-ordinates into his ship's navigation computer.

*

Whenever Anakin or Ahsoka started a sentence with “Don't be mad,” it caused an instant reaction in his brain to start giving him a headache. He'd give a lot to hear that apologetic tone from the still unconscious Anakin, whose force signature was spiking dangerously, despite the drugs in his system keeping him under. They couldn't give him more, but if he awoke unrestrained... This would be so much easier if he could just return to Coruscant. He wondered if he'd ever be back to Coruscant again...

Hearing those words from Ahsoka though... The headache formed swiftly. Especially when the “but” part of the sentence turned out to be “But I gave your co-ordinates to Darth Maul because he has the force suppressors.” Really he should have expected something like that. Nothing ever got to be easy. The force was testing him, that had to be it. The only explanation. Or a very terrible, very long, very realistic, and very painful dream, but he'd been forced to write off that hypothesis long ago.

“He's not doing well, is he?” Even so close to her own due date, Padme was worried about Anakin. Probably more worried than if she wasn't. That was the father of her child after all. It would be so sweet to see him hold his child, and look at them with his bright blue eyes, no Sith, no Empire, no Mustafar... He could only hope. And he could only do all that he could do for Anakin. Killing him couldn't be an option, not after all of this. Not when he could still have the hope of seeing him hold his child, no matter how small a sliver of hope that was.

Senator Organa's ship was the first to arrive. “You shouldn't give your co-ordinates out to so many people, especially unencrypted. A lot of people want you dead, Master Kenobi.” Bail Organa said as they boarded his ship. 

“It's only my ship, Senator Organa. What's so suspicious about two Senators having a meeting?” In open space, in the middle of nowhere, making a rendezvous with what was probably not going to be one but two Jedi shuttles.

Organa's ship was much more attuned to dealing with medical emergencies like premature births and comatose Sith Lords. Senator Organa and his droids helped Obi-Wan to bring Anakin to the med bay. 

“I can't say I understand any of this really. I don't even know what a Sith is, let alone wrapping my mind around how becoming one has turned _Anakin Skywalker_ into someone who kills children without mercy...” Part of Obi-Wan wanted to agree with Senator Organa. But unfortunately for him, he was the expert here in all things force related. At least if Maul did show up he'd know more about what becoming a Sith meant. Maybe he could even enlighten them before he slaughtered them all. But that wasn't fair, really. Obi-Wan was likely the only one Maul wanted to slaughter after all, an he'd never been unable to hold his own against the Zabrak Sith Lord before.

Of course now was not before. 

Ahsoka was the next to arrive, in her old shuttle. Along with Rex, who she quickly explained was not going to be a problem, because he'd had the chip removed that had been forcing him and all the other clones to obey the order to kill the Jedi. In all the rest of the commotion he'd almost forgot that Cody had also tried to kill him. He supposed it was good to get confirmation that Cody didn't really _want_ to kill him, though he had already suspected as much.

Of course then he had to go and ask why only Rex was with her. She managed to tell him the whole story before the last member of their rendezvous party arrived. By the end of the story he wasn't all too happy with said last member, but that was really nothing new. What was new however...

“He knew? About Anakin? How..? Why...?” If he had gone to Mandalore instead of Ahsoka would things have gone differently? Would Maul have deigned to tell him what he had seen? Would Obi-Wan have believed him if he had?

“I guess you'll have the chance to ask him yourself.” Sure enough, the other Jedi shuttle had arrived. The one Ahsoka should have been travelling in, but had been taken from her by the treacherous Sith Lord. The one who had what he needed to save Anakin. Well, to attempt to save Anakin without Anakin lashing out, attacking, trying to kill him, and worst of all making contact with his... new master through their force bond.

“Kenobi!” Oh it was definitely the same anger and hatred he always had swirling inside him, but did he... Light up? “I thought you had been killed by those... Clones.”

“Yes well, there's been a lot of everybody thinking everybody else is dead. If you hadn't noticed there's been a Galaxy-wide slaughter. I'm sure you're very pleased about it.”

“Impressed perhaps, but not so much pleased, Kenobi...” He turned to Ahsoka. “You didn't tell me Kenobi would be here.”

“You didn't ask.” She responded. Confidently, somewhat tongue in cheek, so much like Anakin...

Maul seemed to want to say something, or perhaps curse at something, but seemed to think better of it. “So it seems i have something in my possession that you _Jedi_ happen to want, is that right?”

“You know Master, I did tell him--”

“Just board the ship already Maul.”

“Not until I've gotten my price!”

“What do you want, Maul.” He was wrong before. It wasn't only Anakin and Ahsoka who were capable of giving him these headaches. He just generally didn't spend as much time with Maul socially, given the mortal enemies thing.

“I want a fight.” When didn't he? “Just you and me, Kenobi. To the death. Once and for all.”

“I'm really not in the mood for that right now. I've already exceeded my fights to the death quota for the next... Well, eternity.” Anakin... And not just him, either. Grievous, Dooku, Maul twice already, and a third time would really just be greedy. “I really cannot overstate my lack of interest in such an endeavour.” 

“Then I suppose this is--”

“I'll go after Sidious with you.” Ahsoka said, more like blurted it out from Obi-Wan's side.

“You will do no such--” A sharp look from Ahsoka shut him up on that one. She wasn't a child anymore, that was for sure. 

“Someone will need to keep him busy and away from Anakin, right? And he won't suspect a thing about it...”Ahsoka's words somehow seemed to be enticing to Maul. Interesting. He would have to save that for later, if Ahsoka weren't currently talking about going after Darth Sidious himself, the Emperor of the Galaxy who even Master Yoda couldn't beat. He'd been able to talk Padme out of it because she was pregnant, but unless he'd missed something very important, Ahsoka was definitely not. “You can even tell him I'm your... Apprentice.”

“Done. Let me board your ship, I'll give you the suppressors.” Huh. Would wonders never cease.

*

“Where are you going to go?” The medical droids had her on bed-rest, ready to go whenever the baby decided to come. Of course Padme didn't like it, she wasn't exactly a bed-rest kind of woman. Obi-Wan figured he wouldn't be either, if it were him, especially with so much going on.

“I think it would be safest if I didn't tell you.”

“I'm letting you take my ship. And my husband.” The ship would only take them so far before he would have to send it away, or better yet destroy it. And Anakin... Would he even come with him when it came time for that? He'd wake up soon enough, hopefully after they'd brought him back to Padme's ship. Senator Organa's droids had been done with him for a while now. 

“You'll know where to find us. If you need to.”

He'd toyed with the idea of taking one of Ahsoka's Jedi shuttles, rather than Padme's ship. But either way it would be risky. If they saw him in a ship 'stolen' from a Senator it wouldn't be good, but if they saw him as a Jedi...

Besides Maul and Ahsoka needed all the firepower they could get with the risks they were going to be taking. Maul hadn't left Ahsoka alone since she'd agreed to become his “Apprentice”, even if it was just a pretense. He spent most of his time plotting, batting ideas back and forth with the young former padawan. It was strange to see.

He felt a pang in his chest like a shot through the heart. _Oh._ He thought. _He misses his brother._ It was a feeling he'd never thought he'd be so intimately familiar with. Even when Anakin finally woke up... He wouldn't be the same. Things wouldn't be the same between them.

At least he wasn't truly dead. Not yet at least. As long as he lived, Obi-Wan would have hope, no matter how ill-founded it was. If he gave up on Anakin, it would be like giving up on himself. No, worse than that. Anakin was the boy he'd sworn to raise, to take on as his padawan, so many years ago. Anakin was so young then. Obi-Wan himself was so much younger then. And he knew he'd made mistakes along the way, he hadn't been the perfect master, but he'd cared for Anakin. As much as he was allowed to as a Jedi and probably even a little bit more than that.

He still had Anakin's lightsaber. He didn't want Anakin to have it, not now but what should he do with it? Hide it away? Maybe in another life he would, but...

“Why are you giving this to me? A weapon? Are you suicidal?”

“Its Anakin's saber. He'll need it back, of course. Eventually.”

“And you're giving it to me for what? Safe-keeping? The air on Mustafar must have fried your brain Kenobi.” 

Maul might have had a point. He kept the saber outstretched in his hand, passing it to the Sith. “You did lose your saber when you lost Mandalore did you not?”

“Is this your way of rubbing it in? I'm impressed, I didn't know you had it in you.” He reached out to grasp the saber's hilt. Obi-Wan didn't let go.

“Use it to protect Ahsoka. Please.” It was what Anakin would have wanted. What he really would have wanted, if he were in his right mind, at least. For his saber to be used to protect the ones who mattered most to him. “If you're going to call her apprentice, I'm entrusting her to your care.”

“That's a mistake.”

Obi-Wan let go of the saber. He might never see it again. It was better than keeping it.

*

Anakin had remained unconscious during the transfer back to Padme's ship, which was fortunate. The force suppressors that Ahsoka, well Maul really, had brought were in the form of silver coloured bands meant to go around the wrists and ankles of the force user they were affecting. Anakin had none of those, at least not organic ones. The droids on Organa's ship had altered the two ankle bracelets slightly to go around Anakin's upper arms, while the wrist ones were fastened just above where Anakin's prosthetics on his arms met flesh. His legs had been cut off (by him) quite high. Not as high as Maul's had (also him) though, so even though they'd worked on Maul fair enough... He just hoped they would work well enough on Anakin.

It was quieter, being alone again. Anakin's monitor beeped, showing his vital signs were still stable, as they had been since the night after they left Mustafar. Maybe he'd given Anakin too much anaesthesia out of his own misguided concern. Maybe Anakin would never wake up, never even have the chance to... But no, he couldn't think about that. He had a course to plan. He had a destination in mind at least. He knew exactly where he was going. 

He only hoped it would turn out alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is probably as angsty as this story is gonna get.

He woke up slowly, as if from a nightmare, but the darkness was still around him, swirling around him. No, that wasn't it. He _was_ the darkness. Darth Vader, that was his name. That's who he was now...

Padme! Where was Padme? She had been there, on Mustafar. He had... Hurt her. He didn't mean to, would never have... But she was Skywalker's wife, wasn't she? She'd brought Obi-Wan to Mustafar and Obi-Wan had...

Oh. His legs had been replaced with prosthetics, along with his only remaining hand. Someone had cared enough to bring him out of that lava pit and stitch him back together. Somehow. He tried to reach out in the force, to sense where he was, who was here with him, and felt the panic well up inside of him when he found he couldn't. He forced his eyes open so he could see around him. An odd little dwelling, he'd been placed upon a bed in a room he did not recognize. It wasn't the home he'd shared with Padme, or any bed he'd shared with her. Where was Padme? Who had him? Why here? Where was here?

He got out of the bed with great difficulty, unused to the new prosthetic legs that had presumably been attached to him while he was unconscious. He noted that someone must have also placed force suppressors on his arms, because there they were. Tight, sturdy little buggers they were too. It wasn't like he was going to be able to get them off when he was the one wearing them. They were top tier implements, the same kind he'd sent Ahsoka with. 

Ahsoka... Where was she now? With the suppressors on he wouldn't be able to feel her whether or not she were still alive but... With everything that happened he had to assume not. _She's a Jedi. A traitor. She died like the rest of them._ But she hadn't been a Jedi, not really. She'd left the Jedi Order and it had _broken his heart_ , made no sense that she would have to die with the rest of them. He felt a snarl leave him. Sidious did that to hurt him. He'd pay.

“Anakin? Anakin are you awake? That is you right?” The voice belonged to Obi-Wan. Oh poor soft Obi-Wan, of course he hadn't left him on Mustafar to die. He'd regret that before he died. But of course he hadn't left Anak-- No not Skywalker, Skywalker was gone. He hadn't left Vader a weapon, and he'd effectively neutered his connection to the force.

There was more than one way to kill a Jedi Master, especially one who had taken so much from him. He was Sith, his anger, his hatred, his _pain_ all served to make him stronger. That was why Sidious had killed Ahsoka and that was why he would let it hurt when he killed his own former Master.

Even through his own hatred, his desire for revenge for everything, down to the most petty and up to being maimed on Mustafar, letting him think he was dead, letting Ahsoka leave the order, Skywalker still had feelings for his so-called brother. It was a good thing he wasn't Skywalker. He could do things Skywalker could never even dream off _for better or for ill..._

Obi-Wan entered the room when he failed to answer his calls. Vader was on him in an instant, jumping on him, forcing him to the ground, quicker than Obi-Wan could draw his lightsaber. He wrapped his hands around his throat. It felt so different from when he did it with the force. But it didn't exactly feel _worse_.

“Anakin...” Obi-Wan managed to choke out.

“Stop calling me that! Anakin Skywalker is dead. If you'd been able to realize it sooner you'd still get to be alive.” Obi-Wan had gotten the best of him on Mustafar, but he wouldn't allow that to happen again.

Suddenly his head felt too light, his vision went spotty and the room around him started spinning. His hands slowly unhooked from around Obi-Wan's neck, which was strange. As a Sith he should be more than able to fight through the pain and-- Oh. Obi-Wan was using the force on him. And like any other weak minded simpleton ignorant to the force, he was helpless to resist. 

He fixed a glare on Obi-Wan. “Where's Padme?”

“That's odd.” Obi-Wan replied, his voice weak and strained from the recent choking incident. “I thought Anakin Skywalker was dead. Why would Darth Vader care about Anakin Skywalker's lover?”

He resisted the urge to tackle Obi-Wan to the ground again. Or maybe that was just Obi-Wan's force suggestion in his mind. He let out a short wordless growl of frustration. “Padme is mine! It doesn't matter who I am, she's still mine! Our child is mine! The _Empire_ is mine!”

Obi-Wan's eyes were so sad when they met his. He didn't have time for pointless engagements. He needed to get out of this place, wherever this place was. Preferably kill Obi-Wan, and then get back to his Master's side. As an apprentice, he still had much to learn. But learn he would, and then no one would stop him.

“Padme isn't here right now. I'm sure she's retired to Naboo to give birth to _her_ child among her family there. I'd hope you wouldn't be so willing to cause such a fuss.”

“I will do what I must to get them back. And to get out from under your control!”

“Control?” A look of confusion ghosted over Obi-Wan's face. “I wouldn't say I'm controlling you...”

“Liar!” He brought an arm up in front of Obi-Wan's face. “What are these? No, don't answer. I already know. Force suppressors. Did you put them on me because you're _scared_ of me, Obi-Wan?” He sneered. Despite being so fully disconnected from the force, he could feel his eyes glowing yellow with the rage. Or maybe that was just another phantom sensation.

“Yes.” Obi-Wan replied, which knocked him mentally off-kilter, if only slightly. “How could I not be frightened of you, Anakin? But more than that, I'm frightened _for_ you. Look at yourself, Anakin. Can you really say you like what you've become?”

“I've become what I've had to to become powerful enough to save the ones I love--”

“Save? Anakin you're not saving anybody. Look around you Anakin, there's nobody else here. You're alone.”

“You're wrong.” He still had Padme. If he could get to Naboo he could make her understand. “Padme will be safe because of me.”

“Padme almost _died_ because of you, Anakin. Please.” 

Why did Obi-Wan always have to be against him? Always trying to tell him what to do. He wasn't his father, he could barely have been called a brother to Skywalker. Proper Jedi didn't have attachments, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was a proper Jedi.

_You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you_

Manipulative words that should have been the last he'd heard if it weren't for the soft hearted compassion of the Jedi before him. But...

“The Jedi had to end. Tell me you at least can understand that much.”

“With such cruelty? Even the younglings?” Of course he couldn't understand. He would never understand. He was Obi-Wan, he wasn't meant to understand. He was meant to die with the rest of the Order.

“You say that as if you wouldn't wipe out the Sith without a second thought. Or any people the council told you was a threat. Isn't that right? Good soldiers follow orders, after all.” Obi-Wan averted his gaze at that. Good. “And you're a _soldier_ aren't you Obi-Wan? You just want everyone to think you care but all you have are empty platitudes.”

“Do you really think I don't care, Anakin? You know me better than that. And didn't you already say that if I didn't care, you'd be dead?”

He turned from Obi-Wan, unwilling to continue the pointless argument. They'd gotten into it on Mustafar and it would continue until one of them was dead and gone. They were both too stubborn for anything else. He looked out the window of the small room and-- Oh. Of all the force-forsaken place...

“Obi-Wan... Are we on _Tatooine_?”

*

Tatooine may not have been Obi-Wan's first choice for a hideaway, and Anakin had rarely had good things to say about it. But it was out of the way enough that it would be a good place to hide, and he hoped Anakin's childhood home would have some sort of effect on him.

The effect, watching Anakin survey the Mos Espa city-line outside their rather dingy apartment window, seemed to be little more than annoying the younger man, unfortunately. At least it was something.

Anakin really had had him fearing for his life with his choking stunt. He had to remember that despite Anakin being cut off from the force, living with someone who wanted nothing more than to see you dead was still a rather dangerous situation.

“You know I've never really had the chance to see Mos Espa. Perhaps it would be nice to be shown the sights...”

Anakin's head shot around to look at him. “What, you're gonna let me out? You wouldn't dare.” He sneered, “Or are you trying to entice me with a reward for good behaviour? How manipulative of you. Maybe you'd make a good Sith.”

He frowned at Anakin's strong reaction. He should have anticipated it, but really he'd only been thinking of things that might bring Anakin back to some semblance of normalcy. This was as far from normal as he could possibly get though, so it was clear that wasn't going to work. “You know,” he said, trying again to keep his voice conversational and light. It wouldn't do to get into another screaming match with Anakin, he'd already seemed suspicious enough when signing the lease for this place. “speaking of the Sith, you'll never guess who became a Sith Apprentice while you were in recovery.”

Anakin just frowned at him, mistrust glinting in his still yellow eyes. Clearly he didn't know where he was going with this. “There are only two Sith at one time, Obi-Wan. Only one apprentice. That's me.” He didn't sound quite so sure of himself though. Surely the Sith weren't exactly sticklers for those sorts of rules. If there were only ever two Sith, he'd definitely met more than enough to fill a few lifetimes with. 

Obi-Wan sighed. “Well, I suppose there would be, if some people would stay dead.”

“You mean Maul.” His tone was even. If Obi-Wan closed his eyes he could even pretend he was talking to Anakin rather than Darth Vader, about something more pleasant than Ahsoka becoming a Sith, although, she hadn't truly become a Sith, not like Anakin had. He didn't know if he could handle it if he lost both of them like that and at the same time too... But he could let Anakin think so, and he'd let Anakin think he was that vulnerable too. “Maul is alive then. So then Ahsoka...”

“Is Maul's new apprentice, yes.”

Anakin didn't look convinced. “I was going to say she was dead. That's what I figured anyway.”

“And it doesn't bother you at all?” That couldn't be Anakin, Anakin wouldn't just stop caring about Ahsoka, Ahsoka was... Well, she was his padawan, his little sister, his partner in crime ever since they'd met... 

“She was Skywalker's padawan. It's Sidious's fault she's dead. And in time, he will pay for that and for everything he's done, when I claim my rightful place as Emperor.”

He said it like it was all so simple. Like Obi-Wan was the fool for not getting it.

“Of course it makes me angry. Fills me with rage. It makes me strong. It would make you strong too, if you'd let it. Come on, Obi-Wan, you've never wanted to know what the dark side feels like?”

Obi-Wan felt a little ill. But the more he spoke to Anakin, the less he thought of him as Darth Vader, the mysterious Sith who had killed the younglings at the temple and bowed to Darth Sidious and called him Master. He wasn't that mysterious and unknowable after all. He really was Anakin, wasn't he? Twisted by the dark side, like every other thing the dark side touched, but... Not gone... 

“I know what the dark side feels like, Anakin.” He admitted quietly. “It isn't a place I'd want to live.”

“Neither is Mos Espa, but here we are.” Was that an attempt at a joke? From Vader?

“Yes. Here we are.”

*

Ahsoka Tano really didn't like this plan. “Next time you have to be the apprentice...” She grumbled, poking Maul's side in the cramped compartment with her foot. “I did beat you on Mandalore, after all.”

“You only won because I was trying _not_ to kill you.” Maul hissed back at her.

“Oh? Not very Sith-like is that?” She teased, trying and failing to pull her foot back to a more comfortable position, only succeeding in prodding her fake 'master' again.

“Well if you keep that up I might just _change_ my _mind_.” He waved Anakin's saber at her, though it wasn't much of a threat, it wasn't like he had much room to manoeuvre either. It was odd to see him with Anakin's saber, just as it was odd for him to fight with it. One too few blades she supposed. It served as a constant reminder of how far Anakin really was from her now, not in distance but... 

She'd been so certain he could never fall, and yet he had. She'd learned it when she was just a young initiate. Anyone can fall. The dark side can tempt anyone, and you must remain vigilant not to be so tempted. It had seemed like meaningless fear-mongering at the time. She hadn't known anyone who had gone to the dark side after all.

“So... what made you become a Sith?” It was going to be a long, uncomfortable ride, so she might as well try for some conversation. Preferably conversation that wasn't all about secret plots and fighting and killing and vague selfish Sith philosophy. Those seemed to be Maul's topics of choice from what she could tell in the short time she'd known him.

“I was raised from a young age to become a Sith. What made you become a Jedi?” He sounded like he might have been mocking her, but she only shrugged.

“I was raised from a young age to become a Jedi.” She paused, looking into the Sith's eyes. “But I left the Order. That was _my_ choice.”

Something like pride filled his eyes, and she felt like sighing in exasperation. That wasn't exactly what she'd meant. “The Jedi Order is gone now anyway.” She added. “The Sith won, right?”

Maul only frowned in response. Great, she'd already tanked the conversation. But after a long moment he spoke. “I'm not so sure the Sith can win, my Apprentice...”

“Well. It's a good thing we aren't Sith then.”

This time Maul kept to his silence.

*

“Do you really have to _tie me up_ Obi-Wan? I don't even let Padme do that.” 

“Its for your own safety.” From a certain point of view, it was. “And what you do with Padme is none of my business.”

“So much not your business that you won't even let me see her.” He snarled back. It was really quite unnerving how... Animalistic Anakin seemed to become at times. Even while at other times he could be perfectly calm and rational, if still steeped in hate and rage and whatever else it was Sith steeped themselves in. Pain. Fear. Darkness itself.

“We came here in her ship, Anakin. She knows you're with me.” 

Anakin looked stricken at this information. “You're lying.” He was after all so incredibly suspicious and jealous wherever Padme was concerned, though where he had gotten the idea that Obi-Wan was interested in _Padme_... Actually he had a pretty good guess as to where he'd gotten that idea.

“Chancellor Palpatine is the one who told you to be suspicious of me around Padme, yet you know full well he was manipulating you. Isn't that right?”

Anakin sneered up at him from where he was firmly attached to his bed. “And you're tying me up. What's your point exactly, Obi-Wan?”

“This is for your own good, you know Anakin.” He said, sighing and closing the door against Anakin's wordless scream. He felt shame wash over him. How was he any different from a common kidnapper at this point? Anakin was a danger to himself and others, yes, but... Was what he was doing really helping? He didn't know. And there wasn't anyone he could turn to for help. Even Master Yoda would only be disappointed that Obi-Wan hadn't killed Darth Vader when he'd had the chance. And he'd had quite a few chances since then too...

So, he did what had to be done, the best way he could. It would only be until he was back at the apartment to keep a proper eye on Anakin. He tried to keep his outings to the Mos Espa market brief and few and far-between. Not just because he hated leaving Anakin alone and unattended, though that was a major part of it, but because he didn't want to be recognized by anyone looking to cash in on a bounty for a Jedi Master.

He moved quickly through the marketplace, keeping his hood up. He was quite good at going unnoticed, despite not really having a chance to use those skills so much anymore, with the war and everything that had happened the past few years. It had taken a toll on him, of course. On all of them. On Anakin more than anyone had ever known, it seemed.

Tatooine was, well, about as much of a backwater as he'd expected when he'd first come here all those years ago. Anakin was so different then. So different. If things back then had only gone some other way... If there was something he could have done... He should have been a better Master to Anakin, that much was certain, but really he shouldn't have been Master to Anakin at all. Qui-Gon should have. Maybe if he'd died instead of Qui-Gon, if he'd been faster in the Palace Hangar...

But what a strange timeline he lived in now, where that sweet boy he'd helped to raise had become a dark lord of the Sith. And he himself had given Qui-Gon's killer Anakin's lightsaber. To protect Anakin's padawan. What a tangled web, the one thing that was for certain was that he hadn't been the one to weave it.

Perhaps it was cruel to bring Anakin here after all. They had been the ones to cut him off from his home-world, from his family. It was easier for Obi-Wan, he'd only really ever known the Jedi Order, even Ahsoka had been much younger than Anakin had. And now Anakin's mother was dead, and there was really no way to fix something like that.

He sighed again, casting a long look over the market as he left for his new home. He'd been out too long already. He had what he needed. It was time to go.

*

“I'm telling you, you kriffing Chupa, the Emperor will want me _alive_ not dead. I'm not a _Jedi_ I'm his _Knight_.” It was more than a little difficult trying to get through to the dense Rodian bounty hunter. Force, he'd known Greedo was always one to get involved in the worst and most unfortunate situations but he'd never thought he'd be this _stupid_. 

_”The bounty is on all Jedi. Preferably dead. You are a Jedi. There's not really much to misunderstand.”_

“I'm. Not. A Jedi. Not anymore. I joined the _Emperor_ , he will want me delivered to him _alive_ , I can guarantee. I can guarantee you whatever amount of money you desire, Greedo. If I'm lying what's the harm? The Emperor will kill me and you'll get your bounty right? So what do you say you help an old friend out here, huh?” Oh Greedo was going to die, he was going to die slowly and painfully, as soon as he would Let. Him. Go.

“Did I miss something while I was out?” 

Darth Vader, dark Lord of the Sith let out a scream of frustration that would tear asunder the heavens themselves. Obi-Wan was back. “And you see Greedo? Now you get nothing.” He paused to stew in the feelings of frustration, disappointment, and the white hot rage of the situation. _”I hope he kills you.”_ He added in a snarl in Huttese.

“Anakin, who is this man?”

“Bounty Hunter. Hunting Jedi. You'd better kill him before he lets everyone know we're here.”

But of course Obi-Wan Kenobi, the too good, too sweet, too compassionate _Jedi Knight_ let him go with a mind trick, convincing him he'd seen nothing, he'd heard nothing, and there was nothing of interest in apartment 306. There never was and there never would be. Given how easily Greedo fell to Obi-Wan's tricks, he truly had grown duller in the time they'd been apart. One too many fights he supposed.

“I would so like to see you _kill_ something Obi-Wan.” He said in a wistful sort of voice. “You've always been so good at it.” To his chagrin, Obi-Wan barely reacted to the taunt. 

“I've brought us enough supplies to last us through the week at least. I don't know how you got the Bounty Hunter in here but--”

“He heard me _screaming_ Obi-Wan. This place isn't soundproof you know, and we're pretty close to a lot of people...” It didn't exactly explain how there was only a Bounty Hunter that came to investigate. He may have let loose some choice words when he noticed someone he knew. It was instinct really, even though he'd never really gotten along with Greedo. Greedo had always been a total Chupa anyway.

And now they were a bounty hunter and an aspiring Sith Lord. Oh how the time goes by. “Maybe you should gag me too next time.”

“...Maybe I should.”

They both knew he wouldn't.

*

“What am I going to do with you, Anakin...” Obi-Wan mused, mostly to himself, when it seemed Anakin had finally fallen asleep on his bed by the window.

“Set me free and let me kill you so I can return to my Master?” Anakin responded, sleepy, but clearly not as asleep as Obi-Wan had thought.

“You know I want to do the first but if its going to necessarily mean the second and the third, I don't think I can.”

“You're so _moral_ , Obi-Wan. Do you really think you can _save_ me?”

Obi-Wan didn't respond. Not because he didn't know what to say, but because he did.

_No._


End file.
